"If we, we die we die to the Lord"

“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle”. At first glance, this verse seems to only demonstrate the improbability that any who are wealthy can get into heaven but it seems there are a few other considerations that can be made. One would be how Jesus defines rich and another would be what that definition, when realized, does to us. If we are to truly participate in now and later enter into the kingdom, we can only do this with regard to our being alone (not physically per se) with God. If we cling to something other than God then we lose Him, for if “we cannot serve God and mammon”. Thus detachment is necessary for entrance into heaven.

Detachment, the antithesis of Attachment, is necessary for entrance into heaven (cf. Acts of the Apostles 4:32, cf. Matthew 6:24, cf. Matthew 19:24, cf. Luke 16:13, cf. John 2:15-16, cf. Sirach 14:9). The beatitude which correlates to detachment is “poverty of spirit”.[1] Practically, poverty of spirit moves one to be frugal in differentiating between a desired good and a needed good. “Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full, and deny thee”(Proverbs 30:8-9a). As this proverb implies, God calls to His followers to prefer Him to anything else, and it is this preference that is naturally requisite for entrance into heaven(if we preferred something to God we may not desire entrance into heaven).[2] Even Aristotle asserts that the virtuous are prone to frugality, on account of their efficient and proper appropriation of goods.[3] A final aspect of poverty of spirit is dependence on Divine Providence. “Trust in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the poor.”[4] If one were to attain poverty of spirit easily, then they would spend time with those in need (physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc.).[5] Saint Ignatius of Loyola defines detachment as a kind of indifference. “We must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition.”[6] Once this is attained it must be maintained (which typically means periodic increase). If detachment is to bear fruit, it must be borne with patience and a source of motivation. For the Christian, love is man’s highest, most encompassing, and (therefore) most worthwhile vocation.[7] Love has etymological roots in the same word as freedom in several languages.[8] “The value of love is that it helps to make us who we most truly are.”[9] This properly belongs most to God, Who first gave it.[10] It secondly belongs to our neighbors, who with God are our co-creators (those who contribute to the common good or at least were/are created by God, Who is good, lives in, and works through them). This love is interrupted when man turns to created realities to satisfy desires for God(cf. Genesis 3).[11] Therefore, man must search only for God as a means to the end of satisfying desires.[12] If man is yet convinced he is wanting, then he should remember God’s love and goodness and consider the good which God is bringing about (Romans 8:28).[13] “It is true that wicked men do many things contrary to God's will; but so great is His wisdom and power, that all things which seem adverse to His purpose do still tend towards those just and good ends and issues which He Himself has foreknown.”[14] It is assenting to God’s Will which is the true end of detachment. Instead of a decision between one alternative or another there is choosing what God wills or choosing our own will. “For those who choose God’s will, nothing is ever lost”(cf. Philippians 3:7-8, Sirach 43:27).[15] God alone is worthy of trust (1 Corinthians 1:9).[16]

In conclusion, if we spend our lives seeking to find by in fleeting things, how are we supposed find joy in heaven? An eternity spent having nothing but ourselves and loving God. No wealth, no Netflix, etc. Just God, the greatest of creation, and ourself. If we wish to be happy then why should be careful how we define it. The blessed life is one of intentional freedom, namely, that freedom to love, from corruption and its effects. Our culture seeks this freedom but somehow thinks it can do so via disbelieving morality’s existence/objectivity. The most simple and rewarding path is that which develops and maintains virtue and consequently make giving and receiving love clear and meaningful. There is no gift which may exceed a love demonstrated even in daft blindness and suffering. God’s will alone can satisfy you.

FN:

1.   Cf. A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction, pg.35.
2.   CCC, 2544
3.   Cf. A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction, pg. 39
4.   CCC, 2547
5.   Cf. A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction, pg. 39
6.   Loyola, Ignatius. “Louis J. Puhl, SJ Translation - The Spiritual Exercises: St. Ignatius of Loyola.” Translated by Louis J Puhl. The Spiritual Exercises. Ignatius Press, 1951, 23.; Wilfried Stinissen, and Clare Marie. Into Your Hands, Father: Abandoning Ourselves to the God Who Loves Us. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2011, 58.
7.   The Spiritual Exercises, 169, 363.
8.   Kate Padgett Walsh. “All You Need Is Love? Frankfurt and Hegel on Love as Freedom.” Philosophical Forum 48, no. 4 (Winter 2017), 449.
9.   All You Need Is Love? Frankfurt and Hegel on Love as Freedom, 450
10.   CCC, 1.
11.   CCC, 2541, 2847.
12.   Cf. CCC 2737
13.   Into Your Hands Father, 17. 
14.   Dei Civitate, b. 22, c. 2.
15.   Into Your Hands Father, 59.
16.   CCC, 2738-9, 2742, 2785.

Constant seeking

Never being

Joys that fade

For a mind swayed.

Deceived about dignity

Broken proclivity

Whence we hurt, what should we do

A broken heart having misplaced You 

Nowhere can we go

Nothing we can do

But only seek You

Our wounded healer so true